Evil called Good

Beloved, we live in a world that is often turned upside down. The Prophet Isaiah, with eyes washed by tears and fire, looked upon his own nation and saw a monstrous inversion. Do not imagine for a moment that this "calling evil good" was a mere slip of the tongue or a private vice. Nay, it was a public rot. It was the magistrate taking the bribe and calling it "justice"; it was the wealthy land-grabber moving the ancient boundary stone to steal the widow's acre and calling it "enterprise"; it was the luxuriant reveler drinking away the wages of the poor and calling it "prosperity."

When the very structures of society are painted with these false colors, when the ideological superstructure supports a corrupt economy, the soul of the righteous man is vexed within him. We see the darkness and we are told to praise it as light. The temptation in such an hour is to let the iron enter into our own souls—to meet hard-heartedness with hardness of heart, and to meet the lie with a counter-lie.

The Mirror of Malice

Here lies the subtle and dangerous defeat against which the Apostle Paul warns us. "Be not overcome of evil." Mark you, he does not say, "Do not be beaten by the evil man," but "Do not be overcome by the evil."

If an enemy hates me, and I, in my righteous indignation, hate him back, tell me, who has won? You say, "I have conquered him, for I have silenced him." I tell you, nay. He has conquered you. Why? Because he has successfully reproduced his own character in your heart. He has turned you into a mirror of the very malice you deplore.

If I borrow the devil’s weapons to fight the devil’s battles, I may win the field, but I have lost my allegiance to the Prince of Peace. To fight animosity with animosity is to borrow a flame from hell, and he who lights his torch at Satan's hearth is already burning with his heat. The distinctiveness of the Christian witness is lost when we descend into the mud to wrestle with the swine; we both get dirty, but the swine likes it.

The Artillery of Love

How then shall we fight? For fight we must! We are not called to a limp passivity, but to a glorious conquest. "Overcome evil," says the text. We are to be the victors. But our weapon is strange to the carnal mind. We are to "overcome evil with good."

We must have the courage to name the darkness—to look at the land theft and the bribery and call it what it is—but we must have the grace to kindle a light. When the world offers us the sour vinegar of hatred, we must press into its cup the sweet wine of charity. This is the "coals of fire" tactic. It is the strategy of the Cross, where our blessed Lord, being reviled, reviled not again, but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.

To repay injury with kindness is the highest form of bravery. It requires a heart that is so full of the love of Jesus that there is no room for the storage of grudges. It destroys the enemy by converting him into a friend, or at the very least, it leaves the coal of conviction burning upon his head, which God may use to melt his icy heart.

A Prayer for the Day

Lord, save me from the darkness without, but save me even more from the darkness within. Let me not be a mirror reflecting the world's hate, but a window transmitting Thy light. Give me the courage to stand for truth without bitterness, and the grace to fight with the weapon of love. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Source: Written by AI in the style of Charles Spurgeon